Typewriting machine



March 17, 1925.

J. L. SWEENEY TYPEWRITING MACHINE Filed June 18, 1923 Patented M 1925.

PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH LEE SWEENEY, F INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

'rrrawnrrmo fiacnnm Application filed June 18, 1923 x Serial No. 648,079.

To all whom it may concern:

.Be it known that I, Josarn Lna SWEENEY, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Indianapolis in the county 6 of Marion and State of In 'ana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Typewriting Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the inven- 1 tion, such as will enable others skilled 1n the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improyements -in typewriting machines and the like and more particularly to an improved key-cap construction.

The object of my present invent-ion is to provide a key-"button cap which shall be made in a single piece of transparent material suitably colored as to be restful to the eyes of the operator; which shall be ap plicable interchangeably to any key-button of the machine; which shall be easy of touch; which shall, with the addition of a 251 soft gasket, provide a yielding and pneumatic cushion, and which shall have no character in any manner produced thereon or made a part thereof.

With this and other objectsin View, the

invention consists in certain novel features of construction as hereinafter set forth and pointed out in the claims. a

In the accompanying drawings,-

Figure 1 1s a view illustrating the man ner of application of my improvements to a key-button.

Figure 2 is a plan view.

Figure 3 is a sectional view on a key-button.

Figure 4 is a bottom plan view of the cap, and

Figure 5 is a horizontal sectional view of the same.

A portion of a key lever is shown at 1 and this is provided with a key-button 2 which includes in its construction a disk or member 3 having indicated thereon a letter or character and a transparent plate 4 covering said disk or member 3 and held in place by the inwardly-turned flange 5 of the key-button.

with the cap The key-button above described is that commonly employed with typewriting machines and receives my improved cap 6 in such manner as not to add materially to the height of the key-button.

The cap 6 is made in a single iece of transparent material,-such as cellu oid for example,and it may be suitably colored so as to be restful to the eyes of the operator. The flanged or cylindrical portion of the cap surrounds the key-button and is depressed at one point so as to form an inward projection 7 to engage the peripheral portion of the ke -button and thus hold the cap in place. hat portion of the cap which is disposed over the key-button is depressed or made concave as at 8 to better accommodate the finger of the operator. Located between the under face of the cap and the flanged portion 5 of the he -button, is a gasket 9 preferably of soft rub er.

With my improvements the letter or charactor on the key-button'may be readily seen through the transparent top of the cap and thus the placing of a character on the cap is obviated and the wearing or blurring of the character will be prevented as the finger of the operator cannot come in contact therewith and the glass cover 4 for the character disk 3 will be kept clean. The gasket 9 so separates the cap from the upper face of the key-button that. an air chamber 10 will be formed to cushion the touch and such cushioning is further enhanced by the resilience of the soft rubber of which the gasket is composed.

Having fully described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters-Patent, is:

1. A transparent key-button cap formed to embrace and cover a key-button, the face portion of said capbeing depressed and clear to permit otobservance therethrough of the character on the key-button, and an annular gasket of soft material located within the cap between the flange and the depression thereof in position to engage the edge portion of the key-button.

2. The combination with a key button provided with a character designation and having a flanged portion at its edge, of a cap of transparent material disposed over In testimony whereof I have signed this the character designation on the key havspecification in the presence 'f'of" two suhl0 ing a depressed top and having a cylindriscribing witnesses.

cal portion embracin the key-button, and an annular soft gasfiet held between the JOSEPH LEE SXVEENEY.

cap and the upper edge of the flange of the Witnesses: key-button at the cylindrical portion of the E. M. KINTnnMUm, cap around the depressed top thereof. Bnnrm Evennmo. 

